[RL 17: Ties That Bind; Edgeworth, Phoenix] [Backdated]

On the verge of waking, Phoenix knew this was going to be one of those mornings in which getting up would become an unwelcome obligation. His bed, which seemed to hug every contour of his body, had never felt more comfortable and, in the back of his sleep-addled mind, he desperately hoped that his alarm wasn’t set to go off soon, lest he be in the market for a new one.

A contented sigh escaped him and he shifted closer to the warmth next to him, turning slightly on his side in order to drape his arm over its source, his other arm tucked comfortably under his pillow.

Why couldn’t it be Saturday?

As the warmth shifted Edgeworth frowned, vexed at being pulled back again from a deeper sleep. The air was already giving him a chill. He had almost gathered up enough determination to drag the bedding back up when something much warmer settled heavily across his stomach, further offsetting the cold air. With another sigh he let his head loll to the right and buried himself in his pillow, perfectly content to let the sensations lull him back to sleep...

Until the very real weight of the warmth on his abdomen began to register on his muted consciousness. He frowned again. Sigi was his first garbled thought--the situation recalled that night during the period of his haunting when he'd awakened to find the dog's shaggy head resting on his chest--but the chances of Sigi escaping his crate in the night without alerting Edgeworth were nearly non-existent.

Tentatively he placed a hand on it, found someone else's smooth, heated skin. His eyes flew open as his muscles tensed instinctively. In the darkness he could barely make out the form sleeping silently beside...nearly on top of him and oh God what was going on? Panic spread quickly through his chest, freezing him in place long enough for his eyes to adjust and make out some individual features.

Spiky hair, pitch black in the darkness. The panic took full control then; with a odd cross between a growl and a moan he rolled away, letting Wright's arm drop roughly behind him. He had one foot on the floor when his right arm was jerked up short, and he tumbled the rest of the way out of bed, banging his forehead on the floor as he landed. Sprawled face-down on the floor, one foot still hooked in the linens on the bed and his recently healed right arm twisted painfully behind him, he cursed.

When his arm hit the bed, Phoenix finally stirred, lifting his head as a few mumbled questions passed his lips. Darkness and disorientation greeted his half-open eyes and he only had a moment to clear his blurred vision before he was jarred into full consciousness with a painful cry; his left arm was forcefully jerked from under the pillow, nearly dragging him over the side of the bed.

Fully alert, he pushed himself to his elbows and scanned the room in a panic, unable to recognize a single detail. One thing was agonizingly clear, though: he wasn’t in his bed. He wasn’t in his apartment.

Terror gripped him when his gaze landed on the comforter next to him and he was able to make out the form of someone’s foot tangled within it. He stared, wide-eyed and filled with dread at the prospect of who that foot might belong to: a woman he didn’t know or, more distressing, a woman he did know…

When he mustered the courage to peer over the side of the bed, what he found was unimaginably worse. His heart skipped a beat. “E- Eh-“

He fumbled to his knees and scrambled backwards, but found he could only go so far before his arm was pulled taut again and he hissed in pain. A quick inspection revealed that his left wrist was bound by some type of harness, the other end of which extended over the side of the bed… presumably attached to Edgeworth.

Phoenix promptly went to work on untying it.

Wright's shocked stuttering confirmed what Edgeworth had hoped his eyes had lied about. A shudder ran down his spine and he struggled to right himself, though he only got so far as to roll onto his back. His foot was still hopelessly tangled in the comforter, trapped on the tall bed at an awkward angle that held him halfway off the ground and made the pressure on his shoulders and neck painful. He glared furiously as Wright's terror-stricken face disappeared behind the edge of the bed; the retreat was followed by a sharp tug on the restraint (a cursory glance revealed it to be Sigi's show leash) and Edgeworth released a hiss of his own. Immediately he went to work on untying the leash, but not before jerking it angrily in return.

"Wright," he growled through clenched teeth, still making a futile attempt to kick the comforter off his foot, "what in god's name are you doing in my- What are you doing here?!"

“Ow!” Phoenix nearly tumbled forward as his hand was jerked away. He pulled back, enough to examine his wrist at eye-level. “I was hoping you could tell me,” he muttered. Visions of possible scenarios flooded his thoughts, most of which were appalling and scandalous; none of which were very likely, however, as he distinctly remembered falling asleep in his own bed.

What the hell was going on!?

He growled, training his frustration at the restraint. No matter how hard he pulled, the knot wouldn’t come undone; it was as if the material was fused together. Dropping his hand in his lap, he sighed and idly rubbed at his injured shoulder. “This isn’t working.” He glared over the bed.

His gaze softened, though, if only a fraction, upon seeing Edgeworth’s awkward (and probably painful) position on the floor. Without a word, he attempted to untangle the other man’s foot from the comforter, although he was none too gentle about it.

Wright's proclamation prompted another growl of frustration, and after one last desperate pull that he was sure would leave a burn on his wrist Edgeworth gave up his own attempts. "Obviously. Perhaps you can figure out something that will." The heat in the words was dulled as he looked up at Wright, who was hunched over his foot. The man's skin was pale against the darkness; the muscles in his shoulders worked smoothly as he went to work on the comforter, irritation sharpened the concentration on his face, and god, that line of hair down his abdomen was probably exquisitely soft-

Mouth suddenly dry, Edgeworth turned away, but a rough twist of his ankle made him snap his head back around with a hurt cry. His other foot lashed out awkwardly on instinct, aimed at the source of the pain.

Wincing at the cry, Phoenix looked down to see what was wrong. The last thing he'd expected to find was the prosecutor's free foot flying straight towards him; neither had he anticipated said foot connecting with his face. Mouth snapped shut, he clambered backwards, eyes watering as he nursed his jaw. "Jesus, Edgeworth!" He pulled his hand away to make sure he wasn't bleeding, and then turned his anger on the comforter, freeing Edgeworth's tangled foot in one swift, violent jerk.

The moment Edgeworth's foot was released he dropped the rest of the way to the floor, landing fast and hard on his tailbone. Another pained cry escaped him and he struggled to his knees, rubbing his spine with his free hand. His face felt flushed; likely his forehead was bright red, if the bruise wasn't already showing against his pale skin.

"Damn it, Wright!" He gave the man a murderous glare over the edge of his bed, but before he could berate Wright a high-pitched noise interrupted him. A glance at Sigi's cage revealed wide, dark eyes and a whine that mimicked an almost human concern. Edgeworth's glare softened but only slightly, and he snapped coldly, "Nein, Sigi!" before turning his attention back to the intruder.

"I want you out of this apartment."

"Yeah? Well, that makes two of us.” Phoenix pointedly tugged on the harness. “But this thing might make that a little difficult, unless you plan on coming with me. Maybe some scissors...” A sharp pain stabbed his jaw, caused him to trail off, and he cringed, opening and closing his mouth to make sure everything was in alignment. At the sound of rattling, he cast a brief but suspicious glare at the dog’s cage before looking back at Edgeworth, who was probably in as much pain as he was. With a sigh, he grudgingly asked, “Are you okay?”

"I am not okay. My head is not okay. My spine is not okay." Sigi whined again at the harshness of his tone, and Edgeworth had to suppress a passing sadistic urge to let the dog out of his cage. He leaned on the bed, leveraged himself to his feet with a grunt, and looked down on his unwanted guest. "And we are not cutting this." He held up the leash, an expensive embossed one in burgundy leather that also happened to be Sigi's favorite. "Think of something else."

Phoenix had never seen the other man act so petulantly. He listened, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, as Edgeworth rattled off his aches and pains; it wasn’t that Phoenix was unsympathetic, but only so much concern could be garnered for someone who had kicked you in the face not moments ago. Nevertheless, Phoenix had enough compassion to at least mumble an apology.

When Edgeworth held their restraint up for examination, however, Phoenix gaped at it incredulously before settling the prosecutor with a livid glare. “It’s a dog leash, Edgeworth.” Knowing it was useless, he attempted to untie the knot again, then tried slipping it over his wrist when that failed. The friction was causing his skin to chafe. “In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s stuck. If we’re not going to cut it, what do you suggest we do?”

Lips set in what could only be described as a pout, Edgeworth crossed his arms stubbornly. He was well aware at this point that he was being difficult for difficulty's sake, but the apology had done little to quell his hurt and frustration. "Something else. Do you have any idea how much that leash cost?"

Phoenix could have cared less how much the damned leash cost, but he knew better than to voice such a dissenting opinion. Instead, he allowed himself the disdainful pleasure of rolling his eyes this time.

Once again, he brought his wrist eye-level and examined the knot more carefully: it seemed like a perfectly average overhand loop, the kind everybody and their mothers knew how to tie, neither overly tight nor double-laced, and yet the knot simply wouldn't budge. With a sigh, he settled his hands in his lap, idly picking at the material while he tried to come up with an alternative to snipping themselves loose. The restraints were snug and close to the skin, though, and even the prospect of lathering their wrists with something slick didn't seem like it would work. The ties were simply too binding. They...

Wait.

He stopped fiddling with the leash, brows furrowed. Something seemed to click.

The ties were simply too binding.

"Hold it..."

Wright was rolling his eyes. Edgeworth would swear to it; though the gesture was impossible to see, the man's entire presence spoke of his disrespect. What little patience Edgeworth had left finally vanished in the face of Wright's dismissal. He reached for the lamp on his nightstand, determined to give Wright the full effect of his anger (glaring was certainly less intimidating in the dark) but as he flicked the switch and light flooded the room he heard Wright's voice.

He turned back to the figure sitting cross-legged on his bed, and was surprised to find Wright had a determined set to his jaw, and a familiar glint in his eyes. Edgeworth crossed his arms and glared down at him. "You finally have something useful to contribute to the discussion?"

Phoenix ignored him. “Beware the ties that bind,” he mused, rubbing his chin. After a moment, he stood from the bed and immediately made his way toward the door, paying no mind to the fact that he was still bound to Edgeworth. “Is your computer on?”

Edgeworth stared after him, momentarily stunned by how quickly he was being ignored. When Wright reached the end of their tether and attempted to keep going Miles stumbled once before planting his feet firmly and pulling roughly on the leash. "What use is my computer going to be?"

Cringing as his arm was yet again jarred, Phoenix shot a glare over his shoulder, wrapped his hand around the leash, and tugged back in an attempt to drag Edgeworth with him. “Someone did this,” he explained. “I intend to find out who.”

"'Someone?'" Edgeworth asked through gritted teeth, as he continued to pull. Wright was not going to drag him around on a leash, for God's sake. "Meaning 'someone on the community' I take it."

“What else would I mean?” Hardly making any headway, Phoenix turned around and grabbed the leash with his right hand, walking backwards toward the door. “Come on,” he growled. “Pulling each other back and forth isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Edgeworth held back stubbornly, but his recently healed arm eventually made the decision for him. A jolt of pain shot up his forearm, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and bit back a curse. He relented a few steps, but when he opened his eyes again he fixed a fierce glare on Wright's face. "I'm not a dog, Wright. Perhaps if you had given me an explanation instead of treating me as one, we'd be closer to solving this problem."

Phoenix rolled his eyes, missing Edgeworth’s wince completely. “Of course, this is all my fault. Maybe if you had- If you had… ugh.” He shook his head and, instead, took advantage of Edgeworth’s surrender; arguing would get them no further than a game of tug-o-war.

Turning around, he hauled the other man out of the bedroom, into the hall, and through the first door on the left, which, if he remembered correctly, should have been the office. The desk was in much the same condition as it had been in the last time he was there (filled with neatly stacked paperwork, which wasn’t the least bit surprising), as was virtually everything else in the office. Phoenix took an exceedingly brief moment to admire the way Edgeworth kept things so organized and then, without permission, wheeled out the office chair and sat down, trying to ignore the resistance on the other side of the tether.

He cleared the computer’s screensaver, smirked at the Steel Samurai desktop wallpaper despite his annoyance, and pulled up a browser window.

After one final tug of token resistance Edgeworth followed Wright out into the hall and turned into the office. Wright hesitated a moment in the door, and Edgeworth was about to push past him and take a seat at the desk when Wright preempted him. As Wright pulled the chair out and brought the computer off its screensaver, acting as if he owned it, Edgeworth could only gape at him, until Wright's smirk snapped him out of his surprise.

He scowled darkly at his unwelcome companion. "What are you doing?"

Phoenix gave Edgeworth a look that said it should have been obvious. “Finding out who did this.”

"On my computer?" Edgeworth's glare deepened, and his voice became dangerously calm. "No. Get out of the chair. I'll do it."

Phoenix afforded Edgeworth a curious glance before turning his attention back to the monitor. "What's the big deal? I've already got it open."

Miles crossed his arms, and watched as Wright's hands lifted to the keys. "'The big deal?' As it's my computer, it doesn't need to be a 'big deal.' If I want you to get off of it, you'll do so. The last thing I need is for you to anger another god or otherworldly being under my name." Without waiting for Wright's acquiescence Edgeworth gave the leash a sharp jerk and held the pressure.

"What? I'm not going to--OW." Having his hand unexpectedly (not to mention painfully) torn away from the keyboard made typing rather difficult and Phoenix turned a glare on the prosecutor. "I'm not going to blame anybody, Edgeworth, but I think the question deserves to be asked. Don't you find the timing a little odd?" He turned back to the monitor, intent on rewording his entry only to find the message already posted, typos, accusatory tone, and all.

Dumbfounded, Phoenix could only sigh. "Great."

-end-

((OOC: Continued here.))

Edited 2008-04-18 06:49 (UTC)

[RL 17: Ties That Bind; Edgeworth, Phoenix] [Backdated]

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